Special Educational Needs in Scotland

6.   All children have aspirations and all children are entitled to expect that our schools will help them to attain their full potential. Children with special educational needs are no different from other children in this respect. The Government is committed to developing a more inclusive society where every person has the opportunity to develop their skills and to participate in society to the fullest possible extent. This commitment applies fully to children with special educational needs.

7.   In recent years there has been much discussion about the development of integration and inclusion for pupils with special educational needs. However there is no single universal answer to how these are achieved. An inclusive society must ensure that the potential of each individual is fully developed through education and that their attainment and achievement are valued and respected. It is on the realisation of this potential that inclusiveness depends; an inclusive society and education system will therefore strive to ensure that it creates the range of approaches and opportunities to ensure that this is brought about.

8.   Some children have mild, transitory special educational needs, requiring only temporary support, while others have more significant and enduring special educational needs requiring support over an extended period of time. Each child with special educational needs requires to be assessed as an individual – only then can appropriate provision be identified. For the majority of children with special educational needs the fullest integration into mainstream education, with appropriate support, will be in their best interests. The needs of others will be best met partly or wholly in a specialist setting.

Raising Standards

9.   This Government has also made clear its intention to raise standards in all schools and to raise expectations of all of our school pupils. We have recognised that we must ensure that pupils who have special educational needs are fully included in all of our efforts to achieve higher standards and performance in every school in Scotland.

10.   A sound and flexible policy framework is required. One of the core strengths of this framework in Scotland is the 5-14 curriculum (and beyond that the range of courses provided by the Scottish Qualifications Authority) in which all children can participate. It is flexible and its content can be responsive to pupils’ ages, aptitudes, experiences and needs. It provides breadth and depth to learning in the classroom, combined with progression and continuity. For some pupils with special educational needs the 5-14 Curriculum may be complemented by an Individualised Educational Programme and for others a Record of Needs may be necessary. We believe this framework to be the right approach to achieving inclusiveness and intend to maintain and strengthen it.

11.   The Government will act to develop and strengthen a policy framework which:

places the child’s educational needs at the centre of education policy and decision-making;

ensures that special educational needs are routinely taken into account when framing and implementing educational policies;

develops the earliest practicable assessment of the educational needs of every child;

encourages the earliest practicable identification of special educational needs;

promotes earliest practicable intervention to tackle the needs identified;

supports diversity of provision consistent with the diverse needs of the individual child;

encourages and furthers the role of parents;

places continuing and increasing priority on the development and training of staff working with children with special educational needs;

ensures that every education authority prepares, publishes and makes readily available in consultation with relevant interests in this area a full policy on special educational needs.